A conventional technology known in the art enables mobile terminals to query a server regarding the availability of printers. The server stores printer identification information for each printer, and a plurality of serial numbers associated with each printer identified by the printer identification information. The mobile terminal uses near-field communication (NFC) to acquire the printer identification information from the printer and transmits this printer identification information to the server together with the serial number of the mobile terminal itself. The server uses the printer identification information received from the mobile terminal to identify all serial numbers associated with that printer identification information and transmits information to the mobile terminal indicating whether the mobile terminal is permitted to use the printer. Specifically, the server transmits information to the mobile terminal indicating that the printer is available to a user of the mobile terminal when the serial number received from the mobile terminal is included in the serial numbers identified as being associated with the printer identification information. On the other hand, the server transmits information to the mobile terminal indicating that the printer is unavailable to a user of the mobile terminal when the serial number received from the mobile terminal is not included in the serial numbers identified as being associated with the printer identification information.